I was told it was the only option for my last shepherd after several bloats and several trips to the ER.

Had the surgery done and a couple days later, his sutures ripped open. I took him to the emergency vet and they turned me away. I had to bandage him up on my own and take him to a vet in the morning.

After he healed, be bloated again. The doc who recommended the surgery then suggested a test to detect a certain bacteria in his GI tract. He tested positive for the bacteria. The test was about $14. The antibiotics were about $9. He never bloated again.

My suggestion is if your dog is bloating, inquire about the bacteria test before spending $1500 on a possibly unnecessary/ineffective surgery and the pain and suffering it could put on your dog.

Gastropexy is very effective at keeping a dog from having a gastric torsion, GDV. But they can still bloat.

People often use the term bloat when they mean GDV. GDV is life threatening emergent condition. GDV is what kills dogs.

Bloat is just the stomach filling with gas. If a dog bloats, the stomach, now filled with air, can turn on its axis. This turn, a gastric torsion, cuts off blood supply to the stomach and intestines and is very deadly.

So yes. With a Pexy the dog can bloat. But the stomach cannot twist. It can be a life saving procedure.

If you are going to do it, do it when she is spayed, to avoid a separate anesthetic event.

My one girl is pexied. She was pexied very late in life. But we battled, and still are, a nasty stomach bacteria. She has not bloated in a while now, but during the battle, she bloated 2-3x a day( not exaggerating). I was terrified to leave her. So we pexied her, did a stomach biopsy, it was the biopsy that found the bacteria. But I still get the occasional bloat. But now I don't panic. She gets simethicone and I watch. Before the Pexy, I was a wreck, rushed in to the vet constantly, to prevent a GDV.

To prevent torsion ... using a **** and Jane description, it "anchors" the stomach in place.

Bruiser had several bouts of sudden bloat, thankfully I immediately gave him Gas-X which helped relieve the gas. But to be on the safe side, I finally had his stomach tacked just to hopefully ensure he won't get torsion if I accidentally miss an episode of bloat.

Good points, gsdsar. I should clarify that my dog had gastric torsion associated with his bloat and had the gastropexy to prevent this, but continued to have gastric torsion.

And it sounds like we had a similar situation with the cause being the bacteria. Your pup's just sounds a lot more severe.

This seems confusing or I am mistaken in thinking that gastric torsion refers to an event when the stomach becomes twisted due to bloat. Bloat refers to the distension of the stomach due to gas....regardless whether the stomach twists or not.

Torsion means being twisted or turned.

So, even though you have had your dog pexied..your dog's stomach continued to suffer torsion " twist or turn" ?? That seems really strange. I could see how a pexy would have no effect on bloat but most definitely a positive effect on torsion.

I have to assume since you stated that your dog continues to experience gastric torsion even after the pexy...you have had your dog to the vet numerous times for emergency surgery to untwist your dog's stomach???

This seems confusing or I am mistaken in thinking that gastric torsion refers to an event when the stomach becomes twisted due to bloat. Bloat refers to the distension of the stomach due to gas....regardless whether the stomach twists or not.

Torsion means being twisted or turned.

So, even though you have had your dog pexied..your dog's stomach continued to suffer torsion " twist or turn" ?? That seems really strange. I could see how a pexy would have no effect on bloat but most definitely a positive effect on torsion.

I have to assume since you stated that your dog continues to experience gastric torsion even after the pexy...you have had your dog to the vet numerous times for emergency surgery to untwist your dog's stomach???

SuperG

You are correct. Pexy will keep a dog from having a torsion, but not bloat.

My personal dog, since being pexied, has bloated, but does not have the risk of torsion.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the German Shepherd Dog Forums forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.